Example: How I Set Up Projects

One thing I am very good at is making projects that never end. But in terms of GTD, these are not actionable. I find that when I set up a project, I need to know when it is done. I can only do this by asking some questions.

In this post, I will take you through the setup of one of my projects.

Deciding on the Name

My daughter wants to take piano lessons. Out of this, I know I must set up piano lessons. So the first thing I need to do is define a project for this. “Sign X up for piano lessons” is the first draft of the project name. But is the project done when I have acquired a teacher? No, my daughter must actually take the lessons.

But the next question is, when is it over? When she goes to college? No, again, I have to limit this. The next draft is “Sign X up for three months of piano lessons.”

This isn’t ideal either, because I like to incorporate the action inside of the project name, to a certain extent. What I want to happen is my daughter take three months of piano lessons, and then I will evaluate the teacher and my daughter’s desire to continue.

The next draft of the project name becomes “Complete 3 months of piano lessons for X.” I can live with this.

The 3 Basic Questions For Any Project

The next thing I do on all of my projects is to answer three basic questions:

What is the purpose of this project?

What is the desired outcome (or how will I know it is done?)

What is the basic brainstorming of next actions?

Here are my answers:

Purpose: To have my daughter take three months of piano lessons

Outcome: We have assessed the teacher and X’s interest after three months of weekly lessons

Brainstorming:

Find a teacher

set up lesson

go to lesson

set up practice routine

evaluate project

Next Actions

This thinking about the project sets me up for the next actions. The first thing is to find a teacher. And the first step in this is to locate the phone number of the neighbor who gives lessons; and the next action out of this is to call a long-time neighborhood resident for that number.